Bloomberg rates OCBC world's strongest bank

SINGAPORE - Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) has been ranked the strongest bank in the world by Bloomberg, based on figures compiled by the leading financial news and data services provider. And underlining the Republic's cachet as a top global financial centre, the other two local banks, DBS Group Holdings and United Overseas Bank (UOB), are fifth and sixth, respectively, in Bloomberg's inaugural ranking of the world's strongest banks. Aberdeen Asset Management Asia managing director Hugh Young is not surprised that Singaporean banks score so highly on the global ranking. "We are big holders of OCBC and UOB and have been for a long time simply because they don't do the stupid things Western banks do," said Mr Young, who helps manage US$70 billion (S$86.3 billion) in Asian equities. Aberdeen owns about 6 per cent of OCBC and more than 4 per cent of UOB. "They don't do t...